


Brotherly

by akire_yta



Series: prompt ficlets [498]
Category: Thunderbirds
Genre: Fix-It, Gen, Post-2x18
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-28
Updated: 2017-10-28
Packaged: 2019-01-25 16:30:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 607
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12536132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/akire_yta/pseuds/akire_yta
Summary: preludeinz asked: AKI FIX THE BULLSHIT(aka, prel and I had a moment, but then we remembered this is fandom and we can reject their reality and substitute our own *g* )





	Brotherly

John at sixteen is a beanpole with a ginger top.  “If we tip you over, we could mop the floor,” his grandmother teased, offering him another serving of tuna casserole and ignoring the way his noise wrinkled up.

John was a good grandson, and so waited until her back was turned before sliding the plate down and swapping it with Virgil’s empty one.

Virgil at 14 is on that cusp of moving from baby fat to pure bulk, broad shoulders widening almost daily as his body shifts and morphs into something more like his father.  John knows the coaches at school are making noises about football, giving him extra laps to run and weights to lift.  He’s growing so fast you can almost hear his bones squeaking, and one side effect is even his newest clothes already look tight around the shoulders, across the chest.

The other is that he was always hungry, so hungry that he didn’t even turn up his nose at grandma’s cooking, his body so furious for fuel.

Grandma is too wily to be fooled, but all she does is come around to wrap her arms around John and cuddle him from behind in a way only grandmothers are allowed.  “Your little brother is going to be your big brother soon if you don’t clean your plate.”

“You don’t need big muscles in space, grandma,” John riposted quickly, even if he let his head rest against her arms a moment.  “Just leverage.”

Virgil grins around his full mouth and waits for grandma to get out of earshot before swallowing.  “You just don’t like her cooking, admit it.”

John gathered up his tablet, wiping off a speck of casserole off the screen with a scowl.  “No-one likes grandma’s cooking.  That’s kind of the point.”  John grinned wickedly at Virgil and waited until he’d shoveled another forkful into his mouth before reaching down to scruff up Virgil’s hair.  “But if you’re going to be a big brother, one of the duties is diving on family hand grenades to protect your  _smaller_  siblings.” He’s laughing as he leaps backwards out of range of Virgil’s swiping fork.  “Take the title, do the job,” he teased, backpedalling quickly as Virgil got up, wiping the his mouth with the back of his hand.

He was still at that awkward, clumsy stage, and the kitchen chair made a loud noise as Virgil accidentally knocked it across the floor.  John took the momentary distraction to dart sideways out into the main family room of the farmhouse.  He almost made it to the door to sweet freedom when Virgil’s arms locked around his waist.  He was laughing even as Virgil grunted and hauled John over his shoulder.

John went limp, letting gravity pull him down.  Virgil staggered but just managed to stay upright with his burden in a fireman’s lift.  “Who’s the biggest brother now,” Virgil teased, poking John in the ass.  “Come on, you can say it.  Who’s the bigger man here?”

John retaliated with a sharp pinch that almost had him dumped on the mat.  “Fine, you’re the big brother.”  He waited until Virgil decanted him with surprising delicacy onto the sofa.  “But I’m still the eldest.”

Virgil stuck out his tongue and went back into the kitchen to finish his leftovers.  “Still the biggest.  And the baddest.  And the best.”

“Keep telling yourself that!” John yelled after him, wincing at grandma’s holler to keep it down.  Virgil turned and silently mimed laughing at him before disappearing back into the kitchen.  Only when he was alone did John grin as he sprawled on the sofa and returned to his reading.


End file.
